


Silenced Symphony

by TenkeyLess



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurotine Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Angst, F/M, I have Thoughts on this patch and this is how I choose to process them, Patch 5.2: Echoes of a Fallen Star, Patch 5.2: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Pre-Sundering (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22800703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenkeyLess/pseuds/TenkeyLess
Summary: PATCH 5.2 SPOILERS!A 'what might have been' between Elidibus and the Fourteenth, given new revelations.Also known as--TenkeyLess writes a sad in the middle of the night.
Relationships: Elidibus/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Silenced Symphony

"I cannot, will not, condone this. As ever, I shall seek another path, one which does not rely on the whims of a godlike being for our deliverance. Until such time as I have found such a solution, I hereby resign from the Convocation."

Reaching up to grasp her red mask of office, she ignores the _sorrow resolved_ along her soul's bond and snaps the mask down to the podium hard enough to chip. Barefaced, she looks up to meet her peers regard, fiery resolution writ large in her eyes glowing with barely restrained tears. The gasps and murmurs following her announcement grow to a cacophony, Emet-Selch and Lahabrea begging her to reconsider. Yet the source of it all, the other half of her soul, stands still and silent and _firm_. Elidibus, to be the sacrifice who defines their new God. Elidibus, _her heart_ given up for the sake of their Star.

The anguish at his choice rises again, and she turns on her heel to depart the Convocation chambers before her tears can spill over. He has made his choice, as she makes hers. There is nothing left to debate as the End Days approach. No words to sway the other, no gesture unmade. Yet her pace slows all the same as familiar footsteps follow her into the hallway.

"Elidibus--" she turns to meet him, and his lips meet hers in a desperate kiss. Crushing her tightly to him, they feast at each other's mouths as their souls chime a bones deep understanding. This changes nothing. Yet, there is some comfort still to be had in each other's arms.

Eventually, he breaks the kiss, leaning his forehead to hers in an achingly familiar gesture. Words fail him, however, and after a time she pulls away, cheeks stained with tears. For him, who she cannot save. For him, with the hope she might yet save others. He does not stop her as she turns to leave, but he does cling to that last memory, that last bone deep imprint of her love, as he carries back to the Convocation's hall to make his sacrifice.

* * *

The path up to her home ~~their home~~ looks much the same as it did before the End Days. Star newly stabilized and thriving, he can _smell_ the Light's minions at the doorway. One of Venat's followers, then. Elidibus reaches out to brush his soul in greeting to his love within, but finds his bond subsumed by the wash of aether anchoring him to the Star below. A deluge of ambient colors and sensations, he closes off his aetheric senses and abandons his search for the string tying his soul to a single song amongst the symphony.

Instead, he knocks.

"I already said _no_ , another Primal is not the solution I seek--" Yanking the door open, the defector freezes as she spots him. Her hair is in disarray, hood down, with the white mask of a citizen slightly askew. Vehemence cut short, she rocks back, one step, then another as her eyes widen in disbelief.

"Elidibus--how--"

Smiling, he steps forward and brushes a hand along her cheek, and the gesture unmakes her. She throws herself into his arms, sobbing brokenly into his robes, and it is all he can do to receive her. Satisfaction washes through him as he rubs soothing circles into her back, murmuring sweet nothings as she weeps in his arms for a partner thought lost. Wracking sobs shake her form, proud figure brought low and trembling by the sight of him. By his presence, returned.

"Hush, now, I am here my dearest." Gradually, her sobs abate into hiccups, her hands rubbing at tear stained cheeks as her composure is reclaimed. She leans close, resting her head against his chest as her sniffles quiet down.

"Come, I am here to bring you back to the Convocation. We have need of your talents."

Sniffles turn to deliberate breaths, her nose turned into his robes. Sniffing.

" _I_ have need of you. You have been sorely missed, my dearest."

Her silent response grows long, and he peers down at her encouragingly. A final indrawn sniff greets him, and her head shakes in despairing denial.

"...You're not him."

He makes a noise of confusion as she draws back, her eyes red as she glares at him. She mutters something about his scent, his aether, warped but--Oh, how his heart jumps at the _pain_ and _anger_ visible in her expression, and he reaches out a hand to _soothe_ \--

"What do you--"

"You're not Elidibus!" She hisses, distancing herself. His hand falls, rebuffed, as she jabs a hand towards the door in dismissal.

"Get out, and do not darken my door again." A tumult of _rejection_ rises in his throat like bile, her vicious stare tearing at the raw edges of his soul. But he does not deny her. He never could deny her. So he leaves.

Ignores the sound of her collapsing behind the shut door.

Suppresses his need to _go to her_ as her broken sobs resume all the louder.

Stands apart as she is Sundered like all the rest.

**Author's Note:**

> I made myself sad...
> 
> Thanks as always to the [Bookclub discord](https://discord.gg/PvbG45u) for their infectious enthusiasm (and a place to shriek about these newest revelations) <3


End file.
